An announcement from 2K Games reveals that NBA 2k21 will cost $69.99 USD for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, a full $10 more than the recommended price on other current-generation platforms. That's on top of what is already expected to be a costly year for players. After all, both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are likely to cost between $400 and $500 when they launch at the end of 2020.
Video games have been sold at the $59.99 USD price point for more than two decades. Players are very much used to this as the cost of a blockbuster title, although indie releases have switched up traditional pricing somewhat over the last few years. Yet, development costs have continued to rise during that time, with games like The Last of Us Part 2 costing hundreds of millions of dollars to create.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, 2K Games has revealed that NBA 2K21 will have a recommended price of $69.99 USD for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This would make the game $10 more to buy for next-gen hardware compared to current-gen platforms. This suggests that developers and publishers may push to increase the price of games for the new consoles when they release later in the year. 2K Games has confirmed that the next-gen version of the game has been "built from the ground up for next-generation consoles" and is not simply a port of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One edition.
Rumors of an increase in-game prices for both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have been circulating for some time. But this is the first time that a publisher has come out and confirmed a price increase. Previously, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has spoken about how the cost of developing for next-gen hardware will likely increase to take advantage of the better hardware and lead to games becoming more expensive. Especially those coming from big-budget studios that already create blockbuster titles that involve thousands of developers working on the same project.
Although players are likely to be dismayed about the cost of games rising, the writing has been on the wall for some time. It is not unusual for AAA titles to cost more to make than most movies, so it seems inevitable that publishers would want to increase the price of releases to help claw back some of those massive budgets. However, it will still be a blow to many gamers who won't want to spend more money on an already expensive hobby. Of course, it remains to be seen whether other publishers will follow in the footsteps of NBA 2K21 and increase the price of other games.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz